AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON PARLIAMENT SPEAKER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001237

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EUR FOR DAS BRYZA AND EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/08/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV IR AM
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALL ON PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
TOROSIAN


Classified By: Ambassador John M. Evans for reason 1.4 (b, d)

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Parliament Speaker Torosian told the Ambassador at a
September 6 meeting that Armenia was committed to holding
democratic elections in 2007 and 2008 and that work on
revisions to the electoral code had nearly reached consensus,
both among drafters and with international community
advisers. The Ambassador pressed Torosian to ensure an early
invitation was extended to international observers and asked
for the Speaker's support of U.S. efforts to improve the
climate in which elections will be held. Torosian expressed
support for the Minsk Group efforts toward resolution in N-K
and in particular praised DAS Bryza's recent engagement. On
Iran, Torosian said Armenia was ready to use its good
relations with Iran's leaders to help the international
community achieve its goals and reported that the Chairman of
Iran's Mejlis would arrive for a visit to Armenia on
September 11. End Summary.

Appreciation for USG Assistance to Parliament
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2. (C) Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosian (Republican Party)
used the Ambassador's September 6 farewell call to express
appreciation for and satisfaction with USG programs aimed at
strengthening Armenia's democratic institutions, and in
particular the parliament. Torosian said he looked forward
to developing this relationship and hoped USG programs would
help transform Armenia into a more-developed, truly
multi-party democracy.

Ambassador: Finish Work on Election Law
--------------


3. (C) The Ambassador pressed Torosian to move quickly to
finalize amendments to the electoral code. Torosian said
that work was progressing steadily on this subject, but that
the final product would likely not be passed until October.
Comments from the Council of Europe's Venice Commission were
being taken into account, and so were those of other local
experts. Council of Europe experts would not arrive in
Armenia for the last phase of discussions until late
September, Torosian said, and he committed to submitting the
draft law to the Parliament for its first reading soon after.
The Ambassador noted that while it was the MFA's task to
invite OSCE to observe the election, invitations to
parliamentary groups usually came from the National Assembly;
he urged Torosian to ensure all of the relevant groups were
able to observe the elections. Torosian agreed.


4. (C) The Ambassador pressed Torosian to work to include
the opposition in the work of the parliament. Torosian said
that while the formal boycott continued, some opposition
members had returned on a limited basis. Torosian said that
Armenia had lost much in recent years due to the oppositions
lack of participation. He expected that the voters would not
reward this behavior: these MPs were elected and were paid a
handsome salary to work, and the National Assembly was their
place of work.

Corruption Hinders Foreign Investment
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5. (C) The Ambassador pressed Torosian to seek a role for the
parliament in the fight against corruption. He expressed
regret that the investment and security climates in Armenia
have limited the amount of U.S. investment here. Torosian
agreed, and said that while it would be impossible to
entirely eradicate corruption, in order to gain the trust of
individual citizens and of investors, Armenia's leaders
needed to investigate allegations thoroughly and to punish
those found guilty.

Armenia Appreciates U.S. Leadership on N-K Process
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Torosian thanked the USG for its leadership in the
Minsk Group process, and agreed with the Ambassador that
making public some of the details of the negotiations was a
highly productive step. He expressed frustration at
Azerbaijan's approach to negotiations. He recalled that just
before his productive July 29 meeting with DAS Bryza,
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister had stepped back from
discussions about a referendum and had said that all
Azerbaijan had agreed to was a "public opinion poll." After
Bryza's visit, these statements had ceased. He disagreed with

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the broadly-held theory that the reason discussions have
stalled was to wait out the pre-election period. He claimed
that it would be more effective to conduct transparent
negotiations during the election period so that the people
could have a more direct input.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Arrives September 11
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7. (C) The Ambassador sought Armenia's support for the
efforts of the international community to persuade Iran to
renew its international commitments, while expressing
understanding that Armenia is in a unique position, both
politically and geographically. Torosian said that "there
are countries in the region which would rather take a more
passive role" with Iran, but that Armenia was "willing to use
its good relations with Iran to help the international
community achieve its goals." He reported to the Ambassador
that Gholan Ali Haddad-Adel, Chairman of Iran's Mejlis, would
arrive in Yerevan on September 11. The Ambassador pressed
Torosian to ensure Armenia used the visit to support the
goals of the international community. (Note: We requested,
received, and forwarded to EUR/CARC a schedule of
Haddad-Adel's two-day visit to Armenia. End Note.)

Dealing with Torosian
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8. (C) The Republican Party put Torosian, a technocrat
placeholder who would not do anything to disrupt the party's
plans for the next election, into the Speaker's position,
after Artur Baghdasarian's resignation in May. Torosian has
shown himself to be ill at ease when meeting U.S. officials
for the first time, regardless of their seniority. This
nervousness manifests itself in long, rambling paragraphs in
which the Speaker lays down markers on almost every issue of
bilateral concern and prevents a real dialogue. With each
successive meeting, however, this nervousness abates, and
Torosian becomes a much more valuable interlocutor. We
believe that, with some forther cultivation, he may have
potential to become a significant proponent of democratic
change.
EVANS